Andrew Weissman in CCTV: Clashing Vews on Shale Gas Exploitation in US

07/06/2012

The exploitation of natural gas buried within shale rock formations has the potential to push the United States forward towards full energy independence in less than a decade. That’s according to some energy analysts in Washington who say the growth in the use of new technology to tap the resources is of strategic and economic importance.

But environmentalists are warning that the US may be moving too fast, without fully understanding the risks.

As this industry video illustrates, the process of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" involves drilling one deep vertical well and then branching off into multiple horizontal sections where fluid is pumped in at pressure, to crack the shale rock and release the gas and sometimes also oil.

Andrew Weissman, senior energy advisor with Haynes and Boone, said, "One of the most important breakthroughs in, really almost in our lifetimes, we have tapped into an energy resource that’s vast and that can be developed at very low costs.

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